GOP Tries to De-Count Kirsten Gillibrand's Vote

3 years ago

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As the recount in New York's 20th Congressional District race drags on, the GOP has identified one ballot that it wants de-counted ...

U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand's.

It seems that Gillibrand cast an absentee ballot in the March 31 election to name her successor, but in fact she was in the district on Election Day, campaigning for Democrat Scott Murphy. Therefore, says Republican candidate Jim Tedisco, she should have voted in person.

Republican Jim Tedisco has challenged the absentee ballot of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the special election for Gillibrand's former House seat in upstate New York.

The Tedisco camp claims Gillibrand was in the district on Election Day and therefore should have voted at a polling place, not with an absentee ballot.

A spokesman for the New York Board of Elections, John Conklin, said that similar challenges have occurred before but with little success. In most cases, courts have ruled that the ballot should be counted if the voter did not intend to be in the district on Election Day and did not vote at a polling place as well.

Seems pretty foolish to try to disenfranchise a U.S. Senator on a technicality ... but when you're down by just 47 votes, you've got to hustle.

Filed Under: House, Democrats, Republicans

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